First car?

Author
Discussion

shakotanboogie

Original Poster:

3 posts

1 month

Tuesday 1st October
quotequote all
(I’m new to Pistionheads so excuse me if I get something wrong)

Hello! I’m an American high school student looking for a first car. I’ve been into cars since I was very young, when I first played Gran Turismo 4 on my Dad’s older hand-me down Playstation 2. Both sides of my family are into cars (most notably on my Dad’s side. I’m mainly looking for a reliable and fun daily that can teach me how to drive and work on cars.

Criteria:

$6700 USD (5000 GBP)

<200 hp: I don’t want to spend the beginning of my enthusiast journey in a coffin because I wrapped my salvage title Mustang around a tree.

1980-1996: IMO the perfect balance between reliability, simplicity, and modern features.

Relatively lightweight and fun but with 4 seats and enough trunk space for a guitar and a small-ish combo amplifier

Reliable with cheap and plentiful parts (aftermarket and OEM)

Decent on gas

Manual

Prior Considerations:
1984-1987 Toyota Corolla/Corolla Sport SR5 (AE82/86)
1988-1990 Nissan Sentra/Sunny/Tsuru (B12)
1974-1985 Volvo 240
1986-1991 Honda Civic (EF)
1983-1985 Toyota Celica
1989-1993 Nissan 240sx (S13)

I’m exited to start my journey in the motoring world!

Scrump

22,936 posts

165 months

Tuesday 1st October
quotequote all
Hi, welcome to PH.
First car is the one you will always remember.

PH is primarily a UK site although we do have PHers from all over the world, but this means your price criteria will be lost on many of us.

I am going to suggest the 240sx as I had an s13 200sx so I am guessing a similar car. It was ace and one of my cars I regret selling.

Whatever you end up with will be great, all first cars are.

ZX10R NIN

28,381 posts

132 months

Tuesday 1st October
quotequote all
240SX would be my pick, loads of aftermarket support especially in the US.

SlowV6

651 posts

146 months

Tuesday 1st October
quotequote all
OP did you get the 200SX over there? Same car but with a 1.8 rurbo engine, which we got here. If so I vote for that otherwise 240Sx is a cool car.

Mogul

2,989 posts

230 months

Wednesday 2nd October
quotequote all
What do you expect to pay for insurance over there?

Young drivers in the UK have to pay a small fortune to insure anything half decent…


shakotanboogie

Original Poster:

3 posts

1 month

Friday 4th October
quotequote all
SlowV6 said:
OP did you get the 200SX over there? Same car but with a 1.8 rurbo engine, which we got here. If so I vote for that otherwise 240Sx is a cool car.
The S12? We did, they're hot but cost around $15k (11k GBP) in halfway decent condition. I did see an N/A one in pretty good condition for around $5k (3800 GBP) and I'm considering that

Speaking of which did you guys get the V6 SE option? Starting in '87 they replaced the Turbo with the N/A VG30 from the Z31 300ZX.

trevalvole

1,270 posts

40 months

Friday 4th October
quotequote all
A Volvo 240 probably will be reliable, but they're not lightweight or fun.